Using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) doubles your chances of quitting smoking successfully, according to the HSE.
This Quit Month (October 2024), people who smoke are being encouraged to access support to stop from the HSE. NRT is free as part of a package of evidence-based supports through the HSE Quit service.
NRT are licensed medicines that safely give you lower levels of nicotine. They help you cope with cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
The HSE said evidence shows the best way to quit smoking is with NRT and one-to-one support. The healthcare provider supplies free NRT inhalers, sprays, mists, lozenges and patches.
Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, said: “We know that tobacco products continue to cause a vast range of catastrophic illnesses in our country and to kill one in two smokers.
"We continue to work to bring our smoking rate to less than five per cent of our adult population and to zero for our children. Over the lifetime of this government we have made great strides in our efforts to tackle the smoking rate.
"I’m delighted to say that we continue to fund NRT programmes across the country, which will allow people a free medically tested way in which to quit and quit for good.”
HSE Public Health Medicine Lead with the Tobacco Free Ireland Programme, Dr Paul Kavanagh, said: “HSE QUIT service delivers care which is safe, clinically sound and most of all which works. In line with recommendations in the National Stop Smoking Guidelines, and with support from the Department of Health, we are pleased to offer free NRT to people using our services.
“We know that using NRT during a quit attempt increases the likelihood of quit success. Since it became widely available across our services in 2023, the impact of free NRT for people using our support to quit has been game-changing.
"There’s been a 50 per cent increase in NRT use among people using our service. People who use NRT double their chances of quitting successfully so this is a huge step forward, with six in 10 people using the service availing of the free NRT on offer.”
National Lead of the HSE Tobacco Free Ireland Programme, Martina Blake, said: "While smoking rates in Ireland were falling, the recent Healthy Ireland Survey showed us that the reductions in the number of people smoking have stalled.
"This is worrying and we have responded by improving the HSE QUIT service by making NRT available free of charge.
“Unfortunately, too many people who smoke try to quit alone and don’t access the help they need to increase their chances of finally quitting. This QUIT month, the QUIT services across the country is here to help.
"Take the opportunity to work with our trained quit advisors to create a personalised stop smoking plan tailored to fit your lifestyle.”
